World Innovation Lab (WiL)

World Innovation Lab (WiL) is a venture capital firm with offices in Palo Alto, California, and Tokyo, Japan. The firm partners with leading global corporations and government entities in Japan and Asia to invest in growth-stage companies aiming to scale and enter new markets. WiL's investment areas include Artificial Intelligence, B2B SaaS, fintech, insurtech, automation and productivity, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, developer tools, health tech, and sustainability. Notable investments include Asana, Mercari, Raksul, Wise, and Auth0, which was acquired by Okta in May 2021. In June 2022, WiL raised over $1 billion in additional capital, bringing total capital commitments across all funds to over $1.9 billion. The firm also invests in exceptional venture capital firms and supports its corporate investors in evolving their innovation capabilities through executive training, strategic advisory, and partnerships with leading startups. WiL's mission is to bridge the innovation gap between startups and corporations in the U.S. and Asia, particularly Japan, by providing growth investment capital for innovators across the spectrum of digital transformation, health tech, sustainability, Web3, and emerging technologies. The firm serves as a bridge between startups and corporations, leveraging the power of its Limited Partner network to accelerate the growth of its portfolio companies as they expand globally, with a particular focus on Japan. WiL's approach includes direct investments in growth and late-stage companies, investments in venture funds, and corporate venture capital. The firm provides market expansion support into Japan to U.S. startups and vice versa, and offers a wide range of services aimed at empowering innovation and growth within their corporate partners, such as design-thinking workshops, hosting of expats in WiL’s Silicon Valley office, and establishment of joint ventures and spin-offs. This becomes mutually beneficial to WiL’s portfolio companies pursuing expansion into Japan and Asian markets and partnerships with enterprises.